Container making machine



March 31, 1953 ML WELSTEIN 2,633,064

CONTAINER MAKING MACHINE Fiied Dec. 8, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 1713/1! amey CONTAINER MAKING MACHINE Filed Dec. 8, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet I5 v m FIGA .MICHEL WELSTEIN 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 mum/0r MICHEL WELSTEIN fly: W 17/541 ffie/ March 31, 1953 F led Dec 8 1949 Patented Mar. 31 1 953 ee e' In Belgiu forming mechanisnjsf "ieao hstage a'1'1 of hichi pr d e s a mahin zi in xcqnsiderab e meta and Whiohintum-limitsthe speedof its operation.

1m h} 5 mmnfswi 1 is 'lfi nfite only; the-- dimensions of"the cDn tainer it rifiidils Tii'intfitibh In" accordancewiththi-intention'; the machine coiripri-ses'"- a" group of unattaohew or freelyguided containewforming riian'dfels whibh' are moved along" a 'pafth by pushing one 'mariolrel against another." These mandrels r'nay be 'guided to slide along theiredges and theinpath 10f move ment may: be" CO HtiIIUQUS" dr cyol'rc'. The sheet from" which the containers-'3 arelfi'a'de is fed inter mitt-ently" into one-part oithe opath hetween'two; adj acent mandrelskandithem the "stock "iseianiped' betWee'nsaid-twd mandrel's an'd pfishedflainng the path Whereat" different stagee'it has itsfsiclesj' folded and/or formed 'ar0t1nd""one"of1 saithtwo mandrels "after? which said "n iandrer is "removed" from the completed cdntainerandrcycledp The mandr'els m'ay bemove'd step 'byzs'tep by' oneor more reciprocating pfishersand/bi' pullers which act'on each-mandrel inturm-to'fattchet them albngtheii guided path'ri For eziamplefin the case of a rectangular path, a pusher or puller is, 1949, Serial Naisififiim m-il 27, 1949 may be provided at eachcorner' to push all of the mandrels infront of it allongorie. side of the path.

In addition to the unattached-mandrel container-forming mechanism, ith'ei rha'ehirie of this invention may also include in syii'chr'onism therewith, a sheet-stock" preparation mechanism, which for egg oa se qi uoard-boarcl for boxes, mayf'o'mprl ans for retiring the sheetstdck" fiDmI a 'coht giimfii'iri '1 the shaped Fig. 2 is the sfiappfeifbfiifblank formed in t took preparation portion of the @1518; Own

7 I Td flmstYatethisinventioif there: is shomin in the dmWihQs-a'mmmwemachinefor roducing:

ration portion and a box forming portion. The

following description of this machine may be divided into the following sections:

I. Driving mechanism II. Sheet stock preparing mechanisms 1. Continuous stock feeding 2. Gluing 3. Intermittent stock feeding 4. Blank shaping III. Container forming mechanisms A. Mandrel and cycle operations 1. The unattached mandrels and their path 2. Mandrel moving devices a. Down pusher 1). U lifter 0. Top horizontal pusher d. Bottom horizontal pusher B. Box forming operations 1. Clamping and side folding 2. Flap folding 3. End folding and pressing 4. Ejecting completed containers 5. Returning mandrels.

I. DRIVING MECHANISM Referring to Fig. 1 the driving mechanism for the whole machine is shown to be taken from one main shaft l6 which is mounted transversely of the machine and also is provided with cranks or eccentrics (not seen) for operating the sheet stock creasing, punching and cutting mechanism 10, and the container pressing mechanism which will be described later. On this shaft I there may be mounted a screw gear II which intermeshes with a screw gear [2 for driving a shaft I5 mounted along the outside of the machine, which shaft |5 through the means of bevel gears I6 and I1, drives an end shaft I8 for controlling the intermittent feed mechanism for the sheet stock. Also, shaft [5 through the means of a safety releasing crank 20 and an eccentric 2|, drives the mandrel cycle and the box forming mechanism I60. Also on shaft ||l may be mounted a spur gear 25 which, through a series of other spur gears 26, 21, 28 and 29, drives the sheet stock feeding rollers and the gluing rollers of the stock preparation portion of the machine. Since shaft ID is the main driving shaft for the whole machine one or th other ends thereof is connected to a power source, such as for example, by means of a belt drive 9 to an electric motor. An advantage of having the whole machine including the sheet stock preparation, the box forming, and the stock feeding mechanisms driven from one main shaft resides in the ease of synchronizing all of the moving parts of the machine for rapid and accurate operation.

II. SHEET STOCK PREPARING MECHANISMS 1. Continuous stock feeding.-In the machine shown in Fig. 1, cardboard from which the boxes are made may be supplied from a roll 30 which may be mounted at one end of the machine in a stirrup 3|; or on a separate unattached spindle, as desired. The sheet stock or material 32 is shown herein to be fed up through the bottom of the right-hand sheet-stock preparation portion of the machine shown in Fig. 1 under fixed guide roller 33 and a redressing or sheet straightening means 34, and then between the two rollers 35 and 36, one of which, 36, is afiixed to the shaft 31 driven by spur gear 21, and the other of which, 35, is adjustably spring pressed against the driven roller 35 for pulling the stock 32 from the roll 36 and feeding it into the ma.- chine.

2. GZui'ng.After the stock 32 passes over roller 35 and under roller 36 it may pass along a relatively horizontal reach 40 over the top of the segmented gluing roller 4| driven by spur gear 29 and maintained wet with glue by contacting the chain of two gluing rollers 42 and 43, the latter of which dips into a trough 44 of the liquid glue or adhesive. The portion of the gluing mechanism comprising the two rollers 42 and 43 and the trough 44 may be mounted so that it may be easily slid or withdrawn from the other side of the machine from that shown in Fig. l for cleaning and refilling with glue. The strip of material in trace 40 is held against the segments of the gluing roller 4| by two parallel rollers 45 and 46, between which the material 32 is tensioned (as shown by the contacting segments of the roller 4|) so that if the sheet stock tears or breaks, the glue from the segments will not contact the rollers 45 and 46 so they will have to be cleaned before operation can be continued. The gluing segments are so arranged on the roller 4| that only those portions on the sheet stock which are to be contacted and stuck together in the later container forming mechanism I00, will be glued. For example in Fig. 2, the glued portions 41 appear on the ends 48 of the box blanks which will be bent up and stuck against the previously bent in side flaps 49.

3. Intermittent stock feedings.-The strip of stock 32, after being glued, may pass around the horizontally reciprocating roller 50 and back along horizontal trace 5| between two additional and faster turning feeding rollers 52 and 53, one of which, 52, is rotated through spur gear 21 and the other of which, 53, is urged by its own weight or by means of an adjustable spring, toward roller 52 to hold the stock 32 against roller 52 by friction so that the stock will always be held taut around the roller 56. The friction engaging roller 53 should only contact the now upper surface of the strip of stock 32 in paths which do not cross the glued portions 41 on the strip, and therefore this roller 53 may comprise a pair of narrow rollers or discs which only contact the outer edges of the strip of stock 32. Thus, the roller 52 alternately slips over the under surface of the strip of stock 32 when the reciprocating roller 50 is moving outwardly to stop the feed of the stock, and then rapidly feeds the proper length of stock into the creasing and punching mechanism 10 when the roller 50 is moving inwardly toward this mechanism. The rate and amplitude of the reciprocating movement of the roller 50 determines the length of time that the sheet of stock is stopped and the amount of said stock and the speed at which it is fed into the mechanisms 10 and I06.

The roller 50 is herein shown to be mounted on one end of an L-shaped lever 54, on the other end of which is mounted a, cam follower 55. This lever 54 may be the main lever of an Evans lever system for converting arcuate motion into straight line reciprocating motion for the roller 50. Accordingly, this lever 54 is suspended by two other parallel pairs of levers 56 and 51 which are connected to the lever 54 at pivots 58 and 59 and fixed to the frame 60 of the machine at pivots 6| and 62, respectively. However, another type of lever device may be employed, such as a simple lever with an arcuate motion, in that it is not essential here that the movement of the roller 50 must be in a straight line. The cam 65 1 rammingrmssever:may: be mounte -ion hetrsnsverse e'nd sha'ft wantedemmsharw -through shaft 1 and the cam follower 55 on the -1eVer 54 may" he maintained m contaet' -with the :I-ofIp'ath praeticali tonperform theizoperationsi require fand to returmthefmandrelsfiimithatv'only i one of: the longer fsi'des of 1 'the kpathiiis'iusd =in forming the" bo'x 'and the 'other -three sides are cam 65 b'yi the i actiorror a sprin'g fie, 'Which ma'y :1 added: merel to remove the finished: boxeszirrom be attached between the other-end' fo the lever 54 and-the:topmf theframe 60. Tliusy asthecam rotates' in' 'sy'nchronism wi-thifthe other'ipartsl-bf the Ymachine, the roll'er :"50 recipro'cates sin -i==fa :thepath and lreturnlthe mandrels. ".iThus'Zthe -path contains fourteen maridrelilspaces filled by twelve n'i'a'ndrels:H12 to l 01 and 109 1150 I I l corresponding to the spaces rwhibhi'rtheyzarezishown strai'ght line fro'm one idotteddine-position to the x in-t occupyjn i'the fpathlof. :Ejg

bthen as shown in Fig; 1 ywhi'chzalternatelystops the'i continuous movement ofa the::sheetstoekafl into the: punching and: 'cre'asingz-smechanism 0 forsai'isufficientiitime' fori thisrmechanism-r t op- EEach' of the mandrels 'may'g comprise -;a' ri'gid box form flhaving 'o-utside dimensions iequal to f1 theiinsidelof the -container to bei madeafiaro-und it. Th'ese' *mandr'ielsxare preferably made hollow eratessand then-permits thei' stocketmbei fed 111130s l to reduc'eiltheir weighti andilfmayhibe maideiofe a.

i: the. mechanism the elengktlnofa theinext container "I blank -t'o becreased=zand punched; as" wel1- as&a'si- -multaneously feeds the;previoiisl aand z already f creaseduand: punched-.blank -85 into the' mandrel ixmachine is :now fed into-ether shaping-mechanism 10=between twodieplates 1 l=iand l2 oneof-which, 12; may be stationary andthe otherofawhich',

lil, reciprocates vertically by fthe laction of a parallel-lpair :of connecting rods 4 :l 3- between-. it

and a crank -(not showntiimthe drawings) on :shaft ill. Thus, each revolution of ethe shaft lzupcauses 'the plate 1| to desc'end -iand -punch eand simultaneously creasei-the. box\ blank" along the lines? l5- and 76 -(see (Fig; 2)-.-a1ong-whieh it ris to be folded in theboxstorming-mechanism n 4 B0,. Thespunch 'for the-slots J 4 may be=1ocated at H on the die H and the creasingaedges may 1 bealocated at lfl and 19" for thej perpendicularly scrossing creases 15 and' ltnespectively.

-After thetstrip 3 Z l is soashaped by the slots 14 and creases 15 and-'m itsr-endds fedintofithe a forming mechanism I 00, between sides. grooved wguide channels 9|- and -92- (see Figsw3 and-5)::and

across thetcyclicpath oft-the mandrels in said mechanism 100. JI'hen, during? the succeeding ldescent-of the-die] I to shape the following. blank, the end or formed b1ank-85 whichhasbeen fed ainto' thel guides #9 l and- 92 may-be severed or cutf from the strip ZiZ bythe cooperatingl knife edges in.""cONTAINEHFQRMINGMEHA NI A.-' MANDREL ANDTCYCLEJoPERALFiONs .1.:The unatta'chedm'andreZa and theinpath'emm The principal feature of this invention "resides -in 1thersocnstructioniiandiroperation' of the eon- '-tainer formingIe-mechanism 11/ we. :"eomprising.-eszfs'entially a continuous path for closely-lguided zf ree or unattached: identicalwmandrelse-or. container-i135 tforms": which'zsubstantial1y Lfill the ='channe1:-nof the path. in :the specific ='embodiment disclosed for the formation of rectangular 1 "five-sided 1 or tray-shaped boxes or box lids, there are provided,

ing two' -parallel-vertical -sides 'oi-=sufiicient length r 'sixrectangular mandrelseach, one on top the other; and two""parallel horizontal sides of-"shfiicient length for three mandrcls eaich-g one ht'lmetal, such laluminum,iiwith-iatharder .'?rrl'eta1, such ias' 'o ste'el, Jinsertedratathez edges Land/or 1 :where .zthezxm'ost; i rubbing:andfwear roc- J 'curs. 1=Bymal:'ing-:the1mandre1s touglnand light, their wear 'and-I'momentum fisidecreased xandtthe speed v'vith-which they can'be' movedr'isz-increased.

:These' mandrelsz areimovedzstep byi'stepin'fthis a path in a -clockwise direction 1; as: indicated? by .arrows- H 1' 1(see FigssB and 5) Siderzplatesr 1H 8 and I l eiand the f0ldinglandzpressing:mechanisms, guide' the mandrels along :the -first?downward trace of the :path, :and; ariglezg'uides I 20. and J 2 l i'support thelmandrels'tacross the :bottom Dfathe 'spath aand also :extendtout to thei leftatoxform L an ejection chutafor thecom'pleted boxesl'22. :lI he 13: returned? mandrels arei 'guided iupwards 'i along the -1eft=- side I of.thel'.pathtby' anglel guides: l 2.3,

I24, I and I26 alongi;thei 'corneraof-theppath, ii and :then back horizontally across; the top of theapathc over the top or guide; 92: and between angle'pieces IZTuand I28. Therrightrend: of these pieces J Hand 'l 28may beyi providedwitlraligned beveled-extensions l 29+and 1| 3!] (seeEig: :5) I which sfit intofithewgrooves 1 3 l and 132 along the: ends or each mandrel to support the imandrels-lin succession over the' space r between the sheet- *5 blankiguides 9 l i and 92 ,-While' the blank is being inserted into the'path-sof. the i mandrels. These :1 extensions I29; and I 30 may be resiliently main- 'tained in :p'osition by means :ofa springsy l 33 v and :l 34 -WhiCh retract when the downward mandrel .E 3 pusher: M l):v pushes the mandrel down-out of: en-

cgagement with. the extensions" 1-29 and -l 30 into the position of mandrel lflz shown-incll igl 5.

V :2. andrel moving deoice.=-These. mandrels are pushed or; pulled one :against the. other, by

lever: operated dogs or fingers --which:.- engage-the end mandrels at ea'ch oneof the four. corners of the rectangulary-pathi: and; push it together with a1l of the mandrelsfalon'g a -corresponding side -'of the -path each time-the lever :isoperated. The

mandrel moving flevers are so arranged that any pairof. opposite sides: o'f 'the rectangular/path are movedsimultaneouslylin opposite. directions, and alternately with ithe-others.- pair ofv opposite 'sides.

- All-four of the separateflpushersandpullers are .operated by the same main cycle driving connecting rod I connectedlto. the crank 20 atthe end of the shaft l 54sec Fig. l) by means "ofrelease clutch device l5l. "This-clutch may be adjusted to' releaset theacrank -2fl -soit-wi11 ,.slide in the cross :headofflthedevicel5i at any increase degree of pressure or-force-appli'ed to it not required to move the -mandre1s= around the cycle. Thus, soon as any piece.v jams in the mandrel circuit, the whole-lever system" :for mevmg the mandrels: aroundwtheir path willwim- A me'diately beistopped and its drive'lreleased.

bsid theother; Thisis aboutthe sliort'est lengtheu rizislten-i-Thfifhain rodrl 5flaisipivotally connectedto a floating bifurcated lever I55 which may be of the Evans type as previously described.

, Such lever I55 is shown to be suspended by a pair of parallel levers I56 and a bifurcated lever I51 which are connected to the lever I55 at pivots I58 and I59 and to fixed pivots on the frame I60 of portion I at I6I and I62, respectively. Near the right end of the lever I55 there is pivotally con- .nected the first downward pusher I40 which is guided in a vertical reciprocating path by rod I 65 sliding in the bearing I88 fixed in the top of the frame I60. This pusher I40 may be provided with a locking device I61 to prevent its rotation about its pivotal connection I68 until the device I61 is contacted by the side of the next mandrel I I4 (see Fig. )v as it is moved to the right to be pushed under the pusher I40. Thus, as this mandrel is moved, it unlocks the, pivot for the pusher I40 so .that the pusher I40 may pivot out of the Way and slide up the inclined cam surface I89 on the topright side of each mandrel, so as not to block or delay the movement of the mandrels in the cycle. ,While the pusher is being raised again to a position above the new positioned mandrel I I4 in Fig.

3, the pusher is urged back into its vertical posi-,

tion by means of a leaf spring I (see Fig. 5) which may be aifixed to the rod member I65. If desired, to aid in the alignment of the pusher I40 with the centers of the tops of the mandrels, the pusher may be provided with a rounded end H! which fits into a similarly rounded groove I12 in the top of each mandrel (see Fig. 3 and mandrels I I3 and I I4 inFig 5).

Thus, each time the main cycle driving rod I 50 -makes one oscillation, the pusher I40 makes one.

reciprocation to push the stack of mandrels in the right side ofthe path down at least the distance of the thickness of one mandrel, and prepare a space at the top of the column or stack for the next proceeding mandrel to be pushed into said space from the left along the top side of the path.

b. Up Zifter.The means at the opposite corner of the path, which moves simultaneously with the pusher I40, is a device which lifts the mandrels from the completed containers at the lower left corner of the path, and also lifts the column or stack of mandrels, above the one being removed from the finished container, at least the distance of the thickness of one mandrel. This is accomplished by a vertically reciprocating plate I80 (see Fig. 4) sliding in channels in the frame I60 and moved through a link I8I pivotally connected at I82 to the left end of the lever I55 and to the sliding plate I80 at pivot I88 (see Figs. 3 and 4).

This reciprocating plate I80 carries two parallel;

horizontal extensions I84 (and I85 not seen) (see Figs. 3 and 5) which extend along opposite ends of the mandrels in the path. These extensions I84 and I85 each carry spring engaging pawls I86 (and I81 also not seen) that engage the grooves I3I and I32, respectively, of each mandrel, when the plate I80 is in its lowest position, to

grasp the mandrel and lift it from the completed container I 22 which is retained in channels I and I2I as will be explained later. At the top of the stroke or movement of the plate I80 additional pairs of spring engaging pawls I88 (and I89 not seen) fixed to the guides I23, I24, I and I26, fall into the grooves I3I and I32 of the just lifted mandrel to hold it into the position of mandrel I09 as well as to support all the four other mandrels resting on the top of the mandrel I09. These pawls I86, I81, I88 and I89 are designed to engage in one direction of movement only, so that downward movement of the pawls I86 and I81 will 8 cause them to be released from the grooves I8I and I32, while the pawls I88 and I89 will hold the mandrel I09 in the position shown; but pawls I88 and I89 will permit upward movement of the mandrel I09 when the next mandrel pushes it up to take its place.

0. Top horizontal pusher.The other two corners of the path are provided with mandrel pushers which operate 180 out of phase with the two vertically moving pushers just described. These horizontal pushers move the mandrels horizontally the distance of the width of one mandrel each oscillation of the main rod I50 and may be operated simultaneously by being connected to the same lever system just described through a pair of links 200 from the pivot I83 on the sliding plate I80, to pivot 20I on one arm of an L-shaped lever 202 keyed to a rocking shaft 203 journalled in a pair of brackets 206 mounted onframe I60. Keyed to this same shaft 203 is a pair of parallel levers 204 and 205, which together with the lever 202 form a rocking lever system as best shown at the left in Fig. 3. To the top end of the L shaped lever 202 there may be pivotally connected at 201 a bifurcated pusher member 208 which may be provided with a pair of rollers 2I0 and 2I I which ride alon the top of the guides I21 and I28, thereby keeping the pusher end 2 I 2 at an even distance below the top edge of the mandrels during its advancin movement. The pivoted connection at 201 permits the pusher end 2I2 to ride over the top of the next mandrel lifted from the stack of mandrels along left side of the path, as it appears before the pusher 208 reache its retracted position.

d. Bottom horizontal push er.-The lower ends of levers 204 and 205 are joined by a bar 2I5 at the center of which may be connected a link rod 2I6 (see Fig. 3) which is connected on the right side of the frame I60 at pivot 2 I 1 to the free and upper end of a supporting lever 2I8 pivoted at its lower end to the bar 2I9 fixed to the frame I60. Also pivoted at 2l1 is a bifurcated pusher dog 220, the pusher ends 22I of which may be held up into engaging position by means of a spring 222 con nected to the other end of the dog 220 at 223, and also may be limited in its movement by slot 224 in link 225 connected between the same other end 223 and a special rigid member 226 mounted on bar 2I9. The dog 220 is pivoted so it may be moved out of the way of the next descending mandrel, as it does not reach its retracted position before the mandrel I06 moves into the position shown in Fig. 5.

Thus, as the rocking lever system at the left side of the machine shown in Fig. 3 operates, the top horizontal row of mandrels is simultaneously pushed to the right substantially the width of one mandrel by pusher 208 while the lower row of mandrels is pushed the same distance to the left by dog 220.

Fig. 3 shows the horizontal pushing levers 208 and 220 in their extended positions as distinguished from Fig. 5 wherein they are shown in their retracted positions. Similarly, in Fig. 5 the vertical pusher I40 and lifter I are in their extended positions and in Fig. 3 these same members are shown in their retracted positions.

B.BOX FORMING OPERATIONS 1. Clamping and side foZding.Returning now to the box forming steps in the cycle of freely moving mandrels just described, the first downward push of the lever I40 first clamps the end of the strip 32 between two adjacent mandrels awaxmi afterswhicl theaongrfle y g woa ides-pla ee H teen-d1 I92: TJQBS de letes H8v mandrel: fillet il a 4% meme amenable mett e. taneouslyiwitm the finsers 2.44

3:; Endafolding; nd: messin fla s foldingqfineerszhav ehad; eow WW 3? t t i i SQC fth M 52-10 and: Zilhhavesstartedxto; fol fit; the:- box bl nk; carryin h. lued s ot again 4 m ndreli ha mandrel I04, a relatively extreme pre of-fi'about slflfltkil'ogramsz; maygvbe applied between pivot 213 to give as much power advantag a e-565 1 (not shown) ,1! out ee hee oun 4m '10 wine? n 'le-z hei even- 2 2: o; P 1 552 the was: at. the mandrels e ninl tesfllfli and? HL QQL when the link is in its left position and the spring not under tension; theplate 210 is releaseg to; permit movementoil the: mandrels. hus, the en sr f the v etre-lqs s ec wiceinnde i extreme pressurerinsuccessive;positions-to insure adh iem he.- elued; spate wi h the": flaps: so that the bpxzwill permanently stick together; The

1 extreme:nr su er m lo dih s w dded advan:

ta e of. amine he; glue; in o;- h es: t. he

t. Y 4erth fi hichi hetb xrisr ea nd hereby; into-teasin he; h siom i he-ea er hez e rr may; e: e n ctest cce tr cnrraifls v o i-ma n-qdrivesh t lha iac nt hefcran si which opera sg hes m han sm 0:5 0. s; abe synchron zednwi h 1 l heyth r m ve? ments of the Whole machine and insure;r elease t; he; pressure meters; 1 nd; dnrin th hee vcle dr-iv nerp sh n I 4052 heme:

i he bot om: ow; of the: cyc1ic:.:-nath;.and: hen ti m vedia v hez eftiaiterrtwo S9 lation= .oesrizfl; os he bOl'itomiqfttheilefti id -ve i a-l stackpi mandrelssh w in the cycles When his nes ion;,,the::paw1s: latest-r d 5 mounteglon the vertical slidingymemher; I Bil-ides seend mndlz n eeevthe rooves! 31 and: I 32 along the r. top edges; of the ends, of the mandrels sand lift the; mandrel from ;,the; finished; container or:

Z hfiiqq l-tainer isipreventedafrom sticks, m 0;, hei ufindrelhorfis,scrapedioffthe mandrel; byvthe lsharp edges; or; shoulders zaflizwhich may; be: providedon; theinside of itheimembers I23; I 2.4;;

I Z5:- and;l26;: These shoulders .(see Figs. 431K115") 'l arqpgeferably in j widthhnoti over .twice thethicke: ness -iof ithe m-aterialof thegboxvztendapiece548:.3and2; flaps 1 9). hi h't icknessjoccurs; attits end's wherez thBSfirShOlJldersarelocated. Thesegshoulderssare located; alittle; above theanormal: height-10f the. o .01% O y? oube: engagedi bwboxessstickiriga to; heir; mandrelsa and not" interfere with: the free ipassageionthe v completediboxesa as they'rare IlllShGd-jgOlifilOl'lB Joy, one eachisuccessive: operation :1 along; the) iextendedjower; angle guides, l and:

l projecting outafromv thefleftt sidesofifthezma chine; as vshownl. in. Fig.1 3': Since the machine: when ina; operation v, produces a atuleast' two. com.- p1 doi sleverytsecond;mean w h m be more videdgto r taker; theses; boxes; away as:: rapidlyastheyiarei formed;

5;;v Returning-1" mandrelss-The mandrels as; them area lifted fromthe completed. cartons or boxesaarealift'ed' one" by -one up the left side er:

the cyclic path shown; until'they reach the'posi'e tienof- 'mandrel H3 in'Fig, 5;; This liitingjis} done: a u c s lation he. means l84 and" l85"carryingthe pawls I86, and; l8ljas. xpl ined? b ve;,-, nd du i each: downw rd m v m nt h r-mea s I 4 nd i l 85; he rel ee m ifted'- e1 a d inre nt dirom de eendina y he at hin i pawls i I887; and: 189:: fixed. ,to the ertical ,guides l2 3,- I 24; l25:.a-nd::.l 25in mandrels a1 tit e; cl

, one-by; oneoacross:thezatop ntil they: are imaa position for more containers or boxes.

The equivalents and conclusions Although the foregoing description has been directed to a complete synchronized machine for the production of cardboard boxes from a roll of strip cardboard, the principal feature of this invention, i. e. the cycle of contacting unattached mandrels, may be applied in other machines for producing containers of the type described, or it may be employed alone without including the preparation of the roll stock into blanks as 85, but such blanks may be prepared in another machine or machines and fed directly into the container formation cycle identified in general as portion I of the machine described.

The same principles employed in the machine described may be employed for controlling and moving any size and practically any shape of mandrels for different types of containers, so long as the mandrels have two parallel surfaces which could contact each other so that the mandrels may be pushed one against the other along the cycle path. The sides or guides for the path, however, may take any desired shape to fit different shaped boxes, such as flat hexagonal boxes, round boxes, etc. Such a machine may be applied to the production or forming of almost any taype of container, from any kind of sheet material, including sheet metal, paper, flexible plastic sheets, or the like, as well as cardboard.

An advantage of the present machine besides its compactness and speed, lies in the ease in which the mandrels can be removed or replaced in the case of wear, damage, jamming, or the like. Also since all of the mandrels are identical for any one machine for making one kind of container, spare mandrels may be kept for emergency and may be inserted quickly without requiring the whole machine to be shut-down until a damaged mandrel is repaired or remade.

The cyclic path of the unattached mandrels need not necessarily be rectangular in shape or have sides of the length disclosed. Longer top and bottom traces may be employed in which one or more operations may be performed on the container around the mandrel, and shorter side traces may be employed providing for fewer operations. Also, the cyclic path need not be vertical as shown, but may be horizontal, or at any desired angle. It also may take many different turns of right or other angles. Such a change in the cyclic path may increase or decrease the number of means to push and/or pull the mandrels around the path. The corners or bends in the path may be rounded, particularly those in that portion of the path for the return of the mandrels which structure would reduce the necessity of a pusher at such a bend. Also ratcheting pushers of the type shown may be placed in the middle or between the ends of a straight stretch of path, if required.

Other folding, pressing, forming, and the like operations may be performed in the cycle of the unattached mandrels in the portion I00 of the machine shown, if desired, or fewer of such operations may be performed, for example one of the pressing stages for sticking the glued ends against the flaps 4! may be eliminated.

Concerning the sheet preparation portion of the machine described, any one or all of the operations performed in that portion of the machine may be eliminated, such as the intermittent feed mechanism'in that the glue may operate along the intermittently moving part of the sheet instead of the continuously moving part; or further or different preparatory operations may be inserted, such as replacing the gluer with a printing or inking device or adding along the trace 4!] such a printing device which may be operated similarly to that of the gluer.

While there is described above the principles of this invention in connection with specific apparatus, it is to be clearly understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation to the scope of this invention which is directed to a machine having a plurality of contacting unattached mandrels guided along an operational path.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine for forming containers from sheet stock by folding said stock around mandrels moving in a vertical cyclic path, the improvement comprising: a plurality of freely moving mandrels, guide means forming a vertical cyclic slide path in which said mandrels move, means feeding said stock into the top of said path between two adjacent mandrels, a pluralityof means each pushing one mandrel and said one mandrel pushing another to move said mandrels in said path, reciprocating fingers and guide means along the downward part of said path to form said containers, and means to remove the resulting formed containers from said mandrels at the bottom of said path.

2. The machine of claim 1 wherein said mandrels are composed of light metal with hard wear engaging edges.

3. A machine for forming containers having at least one open side, comprising: a plurality of freely moving mandrels around which sheet stock for said containers is formed, a slide track forming a vertical cyclic path for said mandrels, means to push one mandrel and said one mandrel pushing another and adjacent mandrel to move said mandrels along said track, means for inserting and holding said sheet stock betweentwo adjacent mandrels in said track near the top of said path, means to fold the stock projecting beyond the edges of said mandrels around one of the two mandrels between which mandrels the stock is held along the downward reach of said track, means to remove said mandrels from the resulting formed containers and to eject said containers from said track near the bottom of said path, and means to lift and recycle said mandrels in said track around said path.

4. The machine of claim 3 wherein said folding means includes a plurality of separate reciprocate fingers which operate simultaneously and intermittently.

5. The machine of claim 3 wherein said mandrels contain notches, and said means to remove said mandrels from the completed containers comprises pawls which engage said notches to pull said mandrels from said containers.

6. The machine of claim 5 wherein said pawls are connected to said lifting and recycling means.

7. A machine for forming containers having at least one open side, from sheet stock comprising: a plurality of freely moving containerforming mandrels, means forming a vertical path for guiding said mandrels therealong, first pusher: means pushing one mandrel and said one mandrel, pushing another mandrel to move a plurality ofsaid mandrel along said path, feeder means inserting a container blank of said sheet stock between two adjacent mandrels at one point along said path, said first pusher means clamping said blanks between two adjacent mandrels, finger and guiding means folding the overhanging edges of said blank around one of said two blank clamping mandrels as said mandrels are moved downwardly along said path, container engaging means removing said mandrels from the resulting formed containers at a bottom point along said path, and second pusher means for lifting and returning said mandrels to said first mentioned point along said path.

8. The machine of claim 7 wherein said guide means form a path which is rectangular in shape and wherein at least one said pusher means comprises a ratchet-type stepping means located at a corner of said rectangular path.

9. The machine of claim 8 including pusher means to move said mandrels around said path at each of the four corners of said rectangular path.

10. The machine of claim 9 including means to operate said pusher means at diagonally opposite corners simultaneously and alternately with the pusher means of the other two corners.

11. The machine of claim 9 wherein said first mentioned point along said path is located at one of said corners.

12. The machine of claim 11 including resilient means at said point to maintain said two adjacent mandrels apart a sufficient distance for the insertion of said sheet blank before the operation of said first pusher means which clamps said blank between said two adjacent mandrels until the container forming operations are completed.

13. The machine of claim 7 wherein said blank contains glued spots, and wherein said folding means includes means for pressing said glued spots to adjacent folded positions of said blanks to hold said containers together.

14. The machine of claim '7 wherein said guiding means includes a, spring tensioning means to urge at least one of said guiding means to maintain said containers around said mandrels and in position along said path until said mandrels are moved by said pushing means.

15. The machine of claim 7 comprising a common driving means for all of said pusher and feeder means for synchronizing the movements of the mandrels along said path with the operations on said mandrels.

16. A machine for forming tray-type containers from sheet stock comprising: a plurality of freely moving mandrels around which said containers are formed, guide means to guide said mandrels in a cyclic path, means to feed sheet stock having glue portions into said path at one point between two adjacent mandrels, means to clamp said stock between said two mandrels, means to out said sheet stock into the length of container blanks after said stock is clamped, means to push one of said mandrels and said one mandrel pushing at least one other of said mandrels along said path, means along said path to fold the edges of said out blanks around the sides of said mandrels, means to press the resulting folded blanks to stick said glue portions to hold the folded portions together, and means to remove the resulting formed containers from said path at another point.

17. A machine for forming tray-shaped containers from a roll of flexible sheet material comprising: means to feed said material into said machine, means to put glue portions on said material, a shaping device for creasing and punching slots in said material, means to feed said material intermittently into said shaping device, and means to form the resulting prepared sheet material around mandrels to form containers comprising: a plurality of freely moving identical mandrels, means to guide said mandrels one touching the other around a cyclic path, means at one point in said path to insert and clamp said prepared sheet material between two adjacent mandrels, means operated by said shaping means to cut off a blank of said prepared sheet material from the roll of said material after being clamped between said adjacent mandrels, means to push one mandrel and said one mandrel pushing another mandrel to move said mandrels step by step along said path, reciprocating finger means to fold the overhanging edges of said blank clamped between two adjacent mandrels around one of said two adjacent mandrels, means to press the folded edges together to stick the glue in said portions to contacted parts of said material of said blank to hold said container together, means to remove said mandrels from the resulting formed containers, and means to recycle said mandrels around said path to form more of said containers.

18. The machine of claim 17 including a common driving shaft for synchronizing all of the operations of the means of said machine.

19. The machine of claim 17 wherein said path is vertical and rectangular in shape and wherein said means to step said mandrels around said path comprises separate pusher means pushing at each corner of said rectangular path.

20. The machine of claim 19 wherein diagonally opposite corner pushing means operate simultaneously and alternately with the pushing means of the other two corners of said path.

21. A machine for forming containers from a strip of sheet stock, comprising: guides forming a path, a plurality of freely moving containerforming mandrels movable in said path, means to push one mandrel and said one mandrel pushing at least one other mandrel to move said mandrels in said path, resilient means at one point along said path to maintain two adjacent mandrels apart a sufiicient distance for the insertion of said stock between said two adjacent mandrels, means to feed an end of said stock between said two adjacent mandrels before said pusher means pushes said two adjacent mandrels together clamping said stock between them, means to out off a blank from said strip of stock after said strip is clamped between said two adjacent mandrels, means along said path to form said stock around said mandrels, and means to remove the resulting formed containers from said mandrels and said path.

MICHEL WELSTEIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 852,974 Mitchell May 7, 1907 1,001,319 Staderini Aug. 22, 1911 1,009,236 Giroud Nov. 21, 1911 1,140,915 Redd May 25, 1915 1,220,566 Schroeder Mar. 27, 1917 1,862,390 Schmiedel June 7, 1932 1,920,810 Schmiedel Aug. 1, 1933 1,957,957 Hartman May 8, 1934 1,965,161 Sheflin July 3, 1934 

